Spatial Organization Of A Neural Network For Serial-Order Behavior

串行顺序行为的神经网络的空间组织

• 批准号: 1146607
• 负责人: James Johnson
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: Florida State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-15 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1146607&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Spatial; Organization; Neural; Network; Serial

How does the brain create orderly sequences of behavior? The problem of serial order in behavior permeates human language, the ability to play a musical instrument, or any number of other activities where human or animal intent can only be effectively communicated if several behavioral gestures are chained together in a specific sequence. How the brain accomplishes this task is currently unknown. One approach is to use an animal model (a songbird, the zebra finch) in which the brain region responsible for the serial ordering of song syllables has been identified (called "HVC", the acronym is the proper name). This project will investigate the hypothesis that the serial ordering of song syllables is mapped across several spatially-arranged chains of HVC neurons. This hypothesis is based on preliminary data indicating that HVC neural activity is largely confined to a single spatial axis during singing. Experiments will delineate the spatial organization of connections and electrophysiological properties of HVC neurons. Computational models based on the properties of HVC neurons will then be used to discover network configurations that produce orderly, sequential patterns of neural activity. Models will be validated with circuit-breaking experiments in behaving birds. Results will provide a first look at a network architecture used by an animal brain to create order and sequence in behavior, which in turn will provide a computational platform to understand how the process of learning new behavioral sequences utilizes or shapes such architectures. The research plan coordinates the activity of a faculty research team from three different academic departments (Psychology, Mathematics and Statistics), providing graduate and undergraduate students with access to the expertise of faculty researchers outside their home departments. Computational software tools as well as data from this project will be made available to the public at http://www.math.fsu.edu/~bertram/software/birdsong/ and at http://www.songbirdscience.com.

大脑如何创造有序的行为序列？ 行为的序列问题渗透到人类语言、演奏乐器的能力或任何其他活动中，只有当几个行为姿势以特定的顺序链接在一起时，人类或动物的意图才能有效地传达。 大脑如何完成这项任务目前尚不清楚。 一种方法是使用动物模型（鸣禽，斑胸草雀），其中负责歌曲音节序列排序的大脑区域已被识别（称为“HVC”，首字母缩写是专有名称）。 本计画将探讨一个假说，即歌曲音节的序列顺序是由几个空间排列的HVC神经元链所映射。 这一假设是基于初步的数据表明，HVC神经活动在很大程度上局限于一个单一的空间轴在唱歌。 实验将描绘连接的空间组织和HVC神经元的电生理特性。 然后，基于HVC神经元特性的计算模型将用于发现产生有序的、连续的神经活动模式的网络配置。 模型将在行为鸟类的断路实验进行验证。 结果将提供动物大脑用于创建行为顺序和序列的网络架构的第一眼，这反过来将提供一个计算平台，以了解学习新行为序列的过程如何利用或塑造这种架构。 该研究计划协调来自三个不同学术部门（心理学，数学和统计学）的教师研究团队的活动，为研究生和本科生提供在他们的家庭部门之外获得教师研究人员的专业知识。计算软件工具以及该项目的数据将在http://www.math.fsu.edu/~bertram/software/birdsong/和http://www.songbirdscience.com上向公众提供。